More homeless choosing city shelters instead of the streets

Mayor Bill de Blasio has long been dogged by criticism that he has not curtailed the homeless crisis. But statistics indicate his administration might be doing better than its predecessors’ at steering the homeless into shelters rather than leaving them on the streets.

Data show that a higher percentage of homeless adults entered shelters this year than in nearly every other year going back more than a decade. And the rate may improve further as the city continues to ramp up efforts to get homeless New Yorkers to come indoors.

The issue has been pushed to the forefront because of its visibility; New Yorkers noticed more homeless individuals on the streets. The city’s latest Homeless Outreach and Population Estimate survey, though criticized for its methodology, indeed showed a steep increase.

This year’s HOPE estimate was 3,892 unsheltered homeless, up 39% from the previous year. It was the second-highest count of the street-homeless population since HOPE’s inception in 2005. Nearly all of them were adults.

A caveat to this finding is that the HOPE counts are imperfect. Thousands of volunteers scour the five boroughs between midnight and 4 a.m. on a single January or February day to find homeless individuals planning to spend the night in a public place. Changes in weather and other factors can influence the results, and city officials believe the unseasonably warm winter helped account for the greater count for 2017. However, HOPE volunteers largely consider homeless individuals who are visible in public places, such as streets or parks, missing many of the estimated 40% of the unsheltered homeless who spend the night in a nonvisible location. This suggests the count greatly underestimates the number of street homeless.

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